Mathilda Kchessinska, some pictures in words

[cubanmiamiboy]

...Preo's students, I am under the impression, did better than MK's. (Fonteyn went to Preo.)

...mmm, questionable. Among some of Mme. Khchessinska' students, Mme. Riabouchinska

[canbelto]

The biography, "Imperial Dancer" is excellent. Gives a very full picture of Mathilde's life, from her days as the Czar's mistress to her eeking out a humble living as mistress of a ballet school. One thing that was great about Mathilde: apparently, she never complained. She accepted her misfortunes with grace and tenacity.

By the way, one anecdote about Mathilde that I loved: even though "Mala" was known as a kind, nurturing teacher, beloved by her students, you get a hint of the "Russian way" of teaching from Mala. When a student complained that a step sequence was hurting her and made her feet bleed, Mala ordered her to repeat it 12 more times.

[richard53dog]

...Preo's students, I am under the impression, did better than MK's. (Fonteyn went to Preo.)

...mmm, questionable. Among some of Mme. Khchessinska' students, Mme. Riabouchinska

I would question that statement strongly

MK had a career that lasted 45 years. Of that about 33 was arguably the greatest balletina in the west

[cubanmiamiboy]

...Preo's students, I am under the impression, did better than MK's. (Fonteyn went to Preo.)

...mmm, questionable. Among some of Mme. Khchessinska' students, Mme. Riabouchinska

I would question that statement strongly

MK had a career that lasted 45 years. Of that about 33 was arguably the greatest balletina in the west

True. Also, i wanted to note that Fonteyn was Khchessinska's student too. BTW, she died in 1971, at the age of 99 , but i've tried unsuccessfully to find pics of her mature/elderly years...Is there any out there..?, Mr. R.G...?

[Helene]

Dancers of Karsavina's generation felt that Kschessinska broke through that barrier and established the home-grown Russian ballerina as a star on a level of glamour and technical accomplishment with the flashiest Italian or French virtuosa. They saw her as an inspiration and example of what could be achieved both on and offstage by a local girl from a theater family.

That suggests she was the Cynthia Gregory of her time.

[ViolinConcerto]

True. Also, i wanted to note that Fonteyn was Khchessinska's student too. BTW, she died in 1971, at the age of 99 , but i've tried unsuccessfully to find pics of her mature/elderly years...Is there any out there..?, Mr. R.G...?

IMPERIAL DANCER has several photos of her in her "elderly" years. I think her autobiography had several also.

[bart]

Dancers of Karsavina's generation felt that Kschessinska broke through that barrier and established the home-grown Russian ballerina as a star on a level of glamour and technical accomplishment with the flashiest Italian or French virtuosa. They saw her as an inspiration and example of what could be achieved both on and offstage by a local girl from a theater family.

That suggests she was the Cynthia Gregory of her time.

Two wonderful insights. Thank you.

It is rather difficult to imagine a time when Russia had to import a great deal of its ballet talent, as it did before the 1890s.

It's also difficult to imagine a time when an upcoming California ballerina might have felt it to be in her interest to rename herself "Gregorievna."

Faux Pas's post raises another set of questions, too. Does anyone know where and from whom MK got her training?

Were there teachers in the mold of Vagonova or Pushkin, waiting for for unformed talents whom they could develop to the highest level?

[Hans]

She was trained at the Imperial Ballet School by Lev Ivanov for 3 years until she was 11, and then she joined Ekaterina Vazem's class. At age 15 she joined Christian Johansson's class, according to Imperial Dancer. Quite a training pedigree!

[canbelto]

Plus, she came from a family of dancers. Her father was a dancer, as was her brother I believe.

[chrisk217]

She was trained at the Imperial Ballet School by Lev Ivanov for 3 years until she was 11, and then she joined Ekaterina Vazem's class. At age 15 she joined Christian Johansson's class, according to Imperial Dancer. Quite a training pedigree!

While dancing with the Mariinsky she also worked with Ceccheti in order to "italicize" her technique.

[Alexandra]

Russia had plenty of good dancers. They imported stars because stars were, then as now, good for box office. The company had an excellent school. MK danced at the high point of Petipa's time in Russia.

bart, there were excellent teachers then, too, including Christian Johansson, and later Fokine and Legat, among others. Cecchetti was a dancer (Bluebird/Carabosse) in his mid-40s at the time of "Sleeping Beauty," but also taught.

[glebb]

I made sure I got a picture of myself outside her home in Petersburg.

You can pass the mansion on your way to the Peter and Paul Fortress from the Gastinitza Cankt Peterburg.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I made sure I got a picture of myself outside her home in Petersburg.

You can pass the mansion on your way to the Peter and Paul Fortress from the Gastinitza Cankt Peterburg.

I read somewhere that the house is ongoing a slow transformation to its former glory, and some of the rooms are already showing Mme. K. personal items and ballet costumes...

[glebb]

That's great news!

It was quite evident 10 years ago when I visited Moscow and Saint Petersburg that restoration was a big priority.

Though K's house was some kind of museum and I was not allowed inside, I noticed that the Taurida Palace (location of the first Duma) was being completely restored on the outside at least.

I visited the Alexander Palace in Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo) and it was in the original stages of internal restoration. Nikolai's study was finished and several rooms had displays of clothing, paintings and objects belonging to his family.

Pavlovsk of course has been faithfully restored several times in its history due to Maria Feodoravna's (Paul's wife/Ekaterina Veelekee's daughter in law) copious and thorough records. The process of "Faux Marble" was created for one of Pavlovsk's restorations. Suzanne Massie's LAND OF THE FIREBIRD and PAVLOVSK are wonderful reads for those interested. "Land of the Firebird' even contains a bit about the first Voksal in Russia and Glinka's Valse Fantasie being known as the "Pavlovsk Waltz".

[cubanmiamiboy]

Mme. K. left Russia in 1920, and according to the literature, the last time she danced in her homeland was in 1917. What did she do during those 3 years...? Did she teach under the new soviet regimen...? Did Lenin allow her to keep her mansion ...?

[innopac]

Sounds like quite a dame.

Does anyone else have any stories or descriptions of Kchessinka, the first Aurora and the first to peform 32 fouettes in Swan Lake?

This is from Kschessinska's memoirs Dancing in Petersburg page 75-6.

In this passage she describes how she was granted an audience with the Minister of the Imperial Court in which she requested that she be granted a benefit performance after ten years of service. Generally benefit performances occurred after twenty years of service or retirement and the approval for benefit performances "not covered by the regulations" had to be given by the Tsar. I loved the subtext of this passage because it shows her confidence in her position and also her ability to charm.

... "seeing him [the Minister] well disposed towards me, I told him that I owed my capacity to perform thirty-two fouettes without flaw to him.

'I am delighted,' he said, a little confused, 'but I do not quite see...'

Obviously he did not see at all, and did not understand how such a responsibility was his.

'It's very simple,' I resumed. "To dance fouettes in one spot one has to have a clearly visible mark ahead every time one turns. You always sit in the middle of the front row of the stalls, and when it's dark your decorations glitter in the footlights!'

My explanation delighted him and he again assured me that I had no need to worry about the outcome of my petition.

Of course I was allowed my benefit performance, once again thanks to the Emperor!"

[Amy Reusch]

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly was a benefit performance? Did the ballerina get to keep the box office?

[Amy Reusch]

created the role of Cinderella

Who composed the music for this early (-ier than Prokofiev) Cinderella? Curious.

[Amy Reusch]

Lighting, I suppose, would also have an effect, possibly flattening out -- and therefore broadening -- the image of the dancer. (Isn't it odd that so much is written about Diaghelev's radical developments in stage design, and so little about the way these ballets were lighted?)

Perhaps that's because good lighting design is transparent? People tend to notice lighting when it's bad.

[rg]

i suspect this is the CINDERELLA in question:

Cinderella :Chor: Enrico Cecchetti, Lev Ivanov and possibly Marius Petipa; mus: Boris Shel; lib: Lidiia Pashkova; scen: Henrykh Levot, Matvei Shishkov, Mikhail Il'ich Bocharov. First perf: St. Petersburg, Maryinsky Theater, Dec 1/13, 1893.

[carbro]

What year was the Maryinsky stage electrified? Were early, electrical stage lights reliably controlled?

[Mel Johnson]

Oftentimes, when Diaghilev was pressed as to what his exact duties with his company entailed, he just brushed it off by saying, "Oh, I just work the lights." And he apparently was good at it. One biographer wrote of how the sky cyclorama had a very noticeable buckle in it, and a few adjustments to certain dimmers by D., and the buckle had disappeared. Lighting control in that part of the century was by a large contraption called a "piano board", because it was the size and shape of a very large upright piano, with lots of levers to very large rheostats.

And I believe that the music to the Cendrillon ballet was by Baron Schell.

[drb]

...And I believe that the music to the Cendrillon ballet was by Baron Schell.

Yes, Boris Fitinof-Schell. The ballet featured Legnani's first performance of the 32 fouettes; Mme. K. played one of the two step sisters. Later she took the role of Cinderella, being the first "Russian" (really Polish) to master these turns. If one can believe Wikipedia, a bit of the Baron's music is preserved in the Corsaire PdD.

You can click on some great pix at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_(Fitinhof-Schell)

[innopac]

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly was a benefit performance? Did the ballerina get to keep the box office?

I would like to know too, Amy, how a benefit worked.

Kschessinska writes that the Tsar usually gave an "Imperial present" on the day of the benefit performance. The men would get a gold watch and the women would get a jewel in gold or silver, perhaps mounted with precious stones and "bearing a crown or Imperial eagle." She let it be known that she didn't think these gifts were particularly beautiful and so, on this occasion, she was given a "magnificent brooch, a kind of serpent in diamonds coiled into rings and bearing in the middle a large cabochon-shaped sapphire." She also mentions receiving "a vast number of gifts and ninety-three bouquets or baskets of flowers."

[rg]

w/o looking this up for precise info, to the best of my knowledge, the directorate of the imperial theaters allowed certain performances during the calendar year to benefit everything from individual dancers to groups of dancers, for example a benefit marked especial for the corps de ballet. i believe on these occasions the benefit dancer (or group) could raise ticket prices as they liked. the receipts would all? or in part? be then given the benefit artiste (or organization).

of course this also included balletmasters, such as petipa and ivanov, etc.

i'm not sure about composers.

mel would likely know more accurate information here.

o'course the benefit artiste would expect her biggest fans and admirers to buy up the tickets and make the event an unqualified success. any number of new ballets were created for these occasions.

individual artistes' contracts included the spelling out just what benefits were allowed, etc.